Phil Dematteis, Ed., 1817 Belmont Drive, Columbia SC 29206-2813

Volume 32, No. 2, May 2008

I Find It Recorded in My Notebook . . .

The Hansom Wheels met on March 27 at the New Orleans Restaurant. Your Editor could not be present, because my wife and I had already made arrangements to go skiing at Deer Valley, Utah, that week. We saw Lester Holt, the co-host of the weekend Today show, with his wife and son, at lunch on the deck of the mid-mountain lodge two days in a row, and we spoke to him the second time. He said, “Get away from me!” Just kidding. He seems like a really nice guy.

But back to the March meeting. Several informants supplied me with information about what went on, which makes it extremely easy to put this report together. Maybe I’ll do it this way from now on.

Eighteen people attended, including several guests: Robert and Cathy Brown from the Baskerville Hunt Club in Stateburg-Dalzell and Joe Jr. and Jody Plyler, Joe Plyler’s son and daughter-in-law. I assume that Cap’n Billy Rawl announced that the game was afoot and that everyone toasted the woman. Dr. Carl Johnson led the group in the Musgrave Ritual.

Bob Robinson’s Happy Hour Posers were as follows: (1) “White Termite” = “The Blanched Soldier”; (2) “Communist Ring” = “The Red Circle”; (3) “Near-Sighted Musicians” = The (Be)spec(tac)kled Band”; and (4) “Robert I’s Albacore Bill of Lading” = “(Robert of) Bruce- (de)Parting Tuna Plans.” Glad I missed those.

Robinson also administered the quiz, which indicates to me that Quizmistress Marcia Rowen wasn’t there. I don’t know what the rest of the quiz comprised, but the answer to the “Quotation Puzzle” was “The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle.” 

      Bob reported on an encounter (presumably not a sexual one) he had with Heloise Rathbone, Basil’s granddaughter, at Happy Hour at the BSI Dinner in New York in January. She said that she and her grandfather did not have a close relationship until he and his wife, Ouida, moved from Hollywood to New York late in his life.

      Under “Other Scionic Business,” Myrtle Robinson announced that the Annual Hound of the Baskervilles Awards Luncheon would be held at the State Museum on Saturday, April 26, to honor the winners of the 2008 project participated in by North Augusta, Paul Knox, and Merriwether Middle School eighth-grade students. Hansom Wheels members were urged to attend. Wayne Scott announced that he had copies of his talk on pastiches from the October 2007 meeting at the Irmo branch of the Lexington County Public Library, and would bring them to the next meeting to be given to anyone who wanted one. Bob Robinson distributed copies of his article “Tra-La-La-Lira-Lira-Lay,” published in the Baker Street Miscellanea (Summer 1982), in which he showed that “that little thing of Chopin’s” was actually part of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F-Minor.  He noted that the S.C. Philharmonic would perform this symphony on April 6, 2008.

"The Featured Presentation was Al McNeely's "The Rathbones of 42nd Street," inspired by Dahlinger and Miranker's "Rathbone Returns!" in the December, 2007 BSJ.  Al sent me a review of his talk: “This presentation was the best one ever given at the Hansom Wheels next to those presented by Phil Dematteis, which, of course, nobody can top. I said that Rathbone escaped Hollywood and Holmes in 1946, only to do a U-turn a few years later and portray him on Broadway in a wildly overblown, underwritten mish-mash that sank after three performances. He even got bad reviews for his portrayal of Holmes! It destroyed what was left of his ‘serious’ career and put him into Hammer horror films. A sad, sad story. There were audible sobs from those attending the Hansom Wheels meeting. I also played a recording of Rathbone’s rendition of Edgar Allen Poe's poem ‘The Bells,” demonstrating Rathbone’s wonderful speaking voice.”

John Alam read the Sacred Sonnet, “221B,” and everyone skied down a double-black diamond run. No, wait, that wasn’t the Hansom Wheels. It wasn’t me, either. It must have been Lester Holt.

I’ve run out of space; see page 2 for news about the next meeting!